My first memories of comics came in the form of the 1980s Spider-Mantelevision series. You know, the one where the background never changed. A classic if there ever was one.

I used to walk home from the spot where the school bus would drop me off pretending I could shoot webs from my wrists and looking for the next spot to aim my webslinging abilities.

At a very young age, I caught the collecting bug, something that still afflicts me to this day.

From He-Man figures to hockey and baseball cards to comics to magazines ... you name it, I've probably collected it at some point in my life. Comics were no exception.

In my life, I've probably collected close to 5,000 comics.

It seems that I am not alone when it comes to my love of comics and all things comic related.

How else can you explain why comic book-themed movies have become the dominant force in Hollywood? The X-Men, Spider- Man, Batman, Superman, Wolverine and Iron Man have all been brought to life in film in recent years, racking up billions of dollars in profits.

Dozens more comic bookthemed films are in various states of planning.

One of the bigger ones,X-Men Origins: Wolverine,which grossed US$367.6 million worldwide at the box office, was released on DVD this week.

TheSpider-Manfranchise, which so far consists of three movies, has grossed $2.496 billion worldwide alone.

Even Mickey Mouse apparently is a comic book fan.

Disney recently purchased Marvel Comics for $4 billion, a sure sign that Disney has big plans for comic book-themed movies down the road.

It's hard not to credit these movies with helping bring comics back to the front of the public conscience, too.

The movie success has translated into success in Kingston for one retailer.

In Kingston, the city's lone comic book store, Action Packed Comics, is one of few local retailers to expand its business in the current tough economic climate.

Owner Jorge Carquez, who opened his Princess Street store on March 15, 1993, doesn't deny that the boom in comic-related movies has impacted his business.

"It has helped for sure," Carquez says. "There are lots of great stories in comic books right?" he added, echoing the sentiments of legendary shock jock Howard Stern, who has long insisted that comics are movies already written and penned to storyboards.

Carquez will move his business to its new location, not far from its current spot albeit, on Oct. 1. The move will see Action Packed overtake the recently relocated Gold N Pawn shop at 728 Princess St.

Why the move?

"More than anything it's just because it was available," Carquez said. "The opportunity was there. Next door was open, I thought I would take it."

Carquez's business will double in size from its current 750 square feet come October. Not only will his store be bigger, but so too will the selection.

Carquez says he plans to add movies and used video games to the comics and Magic cards, which account for the bulk of his sales.

"Forty per cent of my business comes from comics," Carquez says.

His lone employee, Scott Veenstra, says Magic cards are a close second, however.

Magic, for those like me who haven't the foggiest, is a collectible card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993. Magic is the first example of the modern collectible card game genre and still thrives today, with an estimated six million players in more than 70 countries, according to Wikipedia.

The site says Magic can be played by two or more players each using a deck of printed cards or a deck of virtual cards through the Internet-based Magic: The Gathering Online or third-party programs.

The cards, according to Veenstra, can range in value from as little as 10 cents to as much as $4,000.

Come again, I asked?

That's right, $4,000 for a single card. That card, Veenstra told me, is the Black Lotus card and it comes from the first series that was released way back in 1993.